Striking A Blow For The Theater

June 19, 1987|By Lawrence Bommer.

Pow! Bam! Boff! David Woolley has probably started more fights (almost 50) than anyone outside a jail. The busy fight choreographer has staged artificial carnage for, among others, Goodman Theatre (``The Time of Your Life``), Northlight (``City on the Make``), Lyric Opera (``Anna Bolena``) and Moose Productions, the enterprise that Woolley and actor/fight director Bruce Young created to launch such ventures as the cult hit ``Dungeon Master``

(starring Woolley, shown here throttling a costar).

On Monday, Woolley will showcase 10 of those battles in ``Eve of Destruction, or Moose Mayhem,`` a night of fights whose chaos commences at 8 p.m. in Pegasus Players` Truman College theater, 1145 W. Wilson Ave. Showcasing the martial skills of six Columbia College students (where this venture initiated) and three other combatants, the harmless slaughter will involve--gasp!--broadswords, rapier and dagger, magic staff, sword and shield, hand-to-hand, frying pan and spatula, soup pot lid and ladle and quarterstaff --all employing fantasy, classical or contemporary combat styles.

``Destruction`` will teem with Woolley`s favorite bloodletting (done with blood bags, of course), including the Edgar vs. Edmund battle from Chicago City Theatre`s ``King Lear,`` the brawl between the Evil Fairy and the Prince in Drury Lane South`s ``Sleeping Beauty,`` a contemporary slugfest from David Mamet`s ``Edmond`` and the (to some) famous struggle between the thief and the statue in ``Dungeon Master.``

Woolley will also unleash some ``dream fights`` he has always wanted to do, like Joan of Arc`s scrap with Talbot in Shakespeare`s ``Henry VI; Part One.`` But what won`t happen, he cautions, will be audience participation fights, audience requests or, even though this is Chicago, comedy improv stage battles. To Woolley, the only good fight is a planned one.

Admission for this main event is $5; for information call Pegasus Players at 271-2638.